Harry Winston — Local services in New York

I NEVER write google reviews (I am too lazy to contribute time to write it) but this recent experience I had with this store made me want to write a review for the very first time so that I can save other people's time who may want to visit this store. As many others already mentioned, HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!

We walked in to look at diamond rings and the old lady (who looked like a manager level or higher) bluntly with very obviously annoyed facial expression asked "you have appointment?". Ok - I understand, asking bluntly is fine I guess... Not trying to be a picky customer here.

Gets sales associate but still MANY problems...

1. Because we look like Asian, the sales associate automatically assumes we are Chinese and starts talking to us in Chinese. I understand that there are many Chinese in the Asian population, but it is very disrespectful to just assume someone's nationality and starts speaking in a certain language that is not English.
2. We go upstairs to look for rings, and the sales associate just STANDS there, no questions asked, and stares at us to ask questions. We had come into the store with certain questions prepared of course, but still, no greetings whatsoever compared to other high-end jewelry stores. When we pinpoint certain rings and ask if we can see them, the associate just takes it out of the case, gives it to us, and total SILENT again. No comments about what type of design is, what carat, what color, clarity...etc. Even a 5 year old could take it out and show it to us because apparently they think they don't need to explain anything to the customers. Even when we ask questions, they answer them in maximum 3 word sentence and no elaboration.

For those who wrote the review saying they think they treated you badly because you wore "plain clothes".. you are wrong. They STILL treat you horribly with bad customer service even if you go in with "luxury brand clothing and jewelry" LOL SO.. just very bad service overall whatsoever is a very good explanation for this store.

The staff who looked very high-up (manager level or higher) was even rude so i honestly don't know how these google reviews will actually be taken into account to educate their staff in terms of respect, courtesy, and how "average" service should look like, but someone from the main HW company needs to see all these google reviews... seriously. Because your staff is ruining your brand names LOL

Summary: Any other high-end jewelry stores will have farrrrr more better quality service than HW. If you are looking for HW style high-end jewelry, just go to GRAFF - they are like few blocks up from HW and honestly their service is far more better (can't even compare) and exceptional and they actually think about their clients unlike this store. We bought some pieces at GRAFF so we were expecting somewhat same quality from HW since they are considered "rivals" but after visiting this store, NOT EVEN CLOSE TO IT. Even if I found something that I super liked at HW, I wouldn't have bought it here because of their poor quality of customer service and how they treat their clients.

This took me a long time to write it, and as I said, I am a person who doesn't write reviews. But, I took extra time to write this long review this time because I genuinely want to save other people's time - because we all want fun, lovely experience while shopping for...

I really cannot relate with any of the negative reviews commenting on the unprofessionalism and rudeness of the sales execs. Maybe it depends on the person that you work with, maybe things changed more recently. BUT - as of September 2024, I personally had wonderful experiences with two of their associates: Helene and Jesse.

My fiancée and I visited this location twice in our shopping for my wedding band.

First appointment: with Helene. Spent 20 minutes browsing and trying on a few bands. Needed to visit a number of other places before making a decision. Helene wrote down my favorite one on the back of her business card with details like name/size/price. From start to finish of the encounter, Helene was courteous, kind and welcoming. She kindly walked us out.

Second appointment: with Jesse. When we contacted Helene a couple of weeks later, she was not available at the time that we wanted to come in, so she referred us to Jesse. This visit was to actually make the purchase after thoughtful consideration and comparing the HW band with 8 other brands that I got to try on. We were in and out in literally 30 minutes with my ring, since we knew exactly what to expect from visit #1. Like Helene, Jesse was also very kind, professional, and had such positive vibe. He also accommodated a specific request from us, which I thought was very nice of him. He kindly walked us out.

Both times, the security opened the door for us, and we were greeted by a hostess greeter that had the nicest smile. We were also offered a choice of drinks. We didn't get any sense of arrogance/pretentiousness from anyone as some have mentioned. Btw I came in shorts. It was overall a very positive and pleasant experience for us. I could not be happier...

I come here to share my frustration with their customer service and I find many people experienced similar things as I did. Here are some tips that you should know before you make your purchase and they will never tell you beforehand:

They will be super nice and friendly before you made a payment but unfortunately not afterwards. (For those who complained that they never showed politeness, you should feel lucky because you knew it from the beginning and thus can avoid they :) )

My sales person who suggested and helped me to pick a loose diamond. The color of that diamond looked yellow to me. So I asked him to get a same grade diamond for me just to compare. From the comparison, it was obvious the one he provided me was yellowish. After he arranged an investigation, he admitted that "the color is off" and "we want to make things right for you". He also told us that it was his first time to see this happening during his career at HW.

However, later when I had to communicate with the solon director, she denied those facts. She said there was nothing wrong with the previous stone, thus they cannot do a refund. (I was astonished by her denying the facts but I realized it later that her strategy is to deny any mistakes they made. And she's really good at it!)

Any deposit or payments made can never be refunded. If they made a mistake, they will deny it. Even if the item was not delivered, there's no way for they to return the payment. Even if you realize later that it's extremely frustrating to work with them and thus want to cancel the deal, it's IMPOSSIBLE to be refunded. The best part is that they only tell you after you make the payment!

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